Encounter at Whiterun
by John Hitchcock
Summary: The Dragonborn unexpectedly finds herself in the capital wasteland and makes a new friend. One-shot imagining a meeting between my characters in Skyrim and Fallout 3.


It was a cool night in Skyrim as Seraphine entered the inn at Whiterun. There she bought a room for the night, and went upstairs to her bed. A lot had happened recently. First she was abducted by her own people who then tried to execute her simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then she barely escaped with her life, discovered she could perform great feats of strength by shouting, and been lead all over half of Skyrim by people trying to understand the dragons. A good night's sleep in a bed of her own seemed refreshing.

As she lay down in her new bed, Seraphine took some time to think about the recent events. She had travelled a lot. She had always been a lone wanderer; she had worked with two companions in those last few days, both of whom had left. First there was Lydia, and then there was Jenassa. Now she was alone once again. Her mind wandered as she drifted off to sleep. During the night, Seraphine experienced a strange vision, one which told her a new word in the dragon's tongue. She remembered little of the dream, but the word stuck in her head as she woke the following morning. She felt a strange urge to shout it, but could not have expected what came next.

She was no longer in Skyrim. She was in what looked like the upper floor of an old run-down cottage, made out of metal instead of wood. In front of her, she saw what looked like an old worn bed, in which a young woman was sleeping. She couldn't have been older than twenty, with short dark hair. She was dressed in blue, with a thick black vest that sported the numbers "101" on its back. The woman was beginning to stir. Seraphine carefully backed away, but not before she was noticed. Within seconds, the woman was fully awake, and pointing a strange-looking weapon at her.

Maya could barely express her relief as she stepped into her Megaton home. She was tired. Her arm was crippled, and she had used up her supply of medicine. She only had a few bottle caps left, not enough to buy another stimpak.

"Good evening Madam," her robot butler said as Maya entered her small two-story shack. Maya stared at the robot in front of her. "I'd like a drink," she said.

"Certainly Madam. Here you are."

Maya quickly drank her water. Fresh water was hard to come by in this world, and it always felt good to be able to drink something other than whatever dirty water she could find or the odd bottle of Nuka-Cola. For her, being forced to scavenge in the wasteland and drink contaminated water was a typical day.

She began to stumble upstairs, removing her combat helmet and biker goggles. She then lay down on her bed and shut her eyes. Memories flooded through her head of everything that had happened up to now. She hardly enjoyed spending her childhood in the vault, but getting out was no easy task. Once she was out, she suddenly had to figure out how to survive on her own, though on the bright side she had at least managed to defuse the live nuclear bomb in Megaton's center. For now she was safe.

Maya had started to fall asleep when she was suddenly jolted awake by a strange noise. It sounded like someone shouting, but in a weird language she had never heard before. Her eyes snapped open in an instant, and she was quickly reaching for her hunting rifle. She looked on in surprise as she noticed a woman standing in front of her. She was tall and dirty, and only had one good eye, under which a strange curve had been painted. Her hair was long, dark, and messy. She was also wearing some strange medieval clothes, and had a long sword at her side. The two women could only stare in confusion as they looked at each other.

"Who are you?" Maya asked, gun still pointed at the new arrival, who reached for her sword. "What are you doing in my house?"

"Are you threatening me with a stick?"

Maya stared at the woman in confusion. She pointed her gun to the side, fired one shot, then turned it back to the arrival.

"Calm down. Can you just tell me where I am?"

"Where did you come from?" Maya asked.

"I'm not sure," Serephine said. "One moment I was in Skyrim, the next I was-"

"Skyrim? Where's that?"

"Where am I now?"

"Megaton."

"Where is that?"

"Okay," Maya said. "Something weird is happening. Why don't you put down your sword and I'll put down my gun. Then we can discuss this."

Serephine stared for a moment before sheathing her sword. Maya lowered her rifle.

"My name is Seraphine."

"I'm Maya. "

The two women paused for a moment. "Can I get you anything to drink? Maybe a Nuka-Cola?"

"What's that?"

"It's a drink that can often be found around here. You know what. I'll just get some water."

"You don't look so good yourself," Seraphine remarked, noting Maya's injuries and her limp.

"You're one to talk," Maya said, looking Seraphine in her one good eye.

"Here." Seraphine handed Maya a flask containing a strange liquid. She reluctantly reached for the flask.

"What is it?"

"Potion of minor healing."

Maya nervously pressed the flask to her lips. She began to drink some of the liquid inside, and was surprised to find it working. In a few seconds she had finished the potion, and felt much better.

"Where'd you find that stuff?" She asked.

"It's pretty easy to come by in Skyrim," Seraphine replied.

"That reminds me, what was with that shouting?"

"Oh," Seraphine stared at Maya, somewhat surprised. "You didn't know about the dragonborn?"

"The what?"

"I have the power of the voice. Not many people do these days. Anyway, what's with the '101 on your vest?"

Maya paused, staring at Seraphine. "It's the vault where I grew up," she said. "I only just left a few days ago."

"I had this weird vision last night," Seraphine began to explain. "I learned this new word in the dragon's language-"

"What?"

"You never learned about dragons?"

"No. Around here we have to deal with super mutants."

"I see. Anyway, I think that word did something strange. You said I was in a place called Megaton?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think I know it."

"You've never been to the capital wasteland before."

"What?"

"Okay, come on."

Maya led Seraphine downstairs. "It's okay," she said to her robot butler. "She's with me."

Maya opened the door and led Seraphine outside to a small balcony overlooking the old city.

"What is this place?" Seraphine asked. "It doesn't look like much."

"This is one of the better parts," Maya said. "200 years ago there was a nuclear war. This whole town was built on a live nuclear bomb." She pointed to the bomb in the town's center.

"Okay…" Seraphine muttered, still confused.


End file.
